A European court just affirmed a lower courts decision that it is NOT ok to criticize Islam, or at least certain aspects of it.
Upholding a lower court’s ruling, the ECHR found that defaming Muhammad “goes beyond the permissible limits of an objective debate” and “could stir up prejudice and put at risk religious peace” and is therefore not protected expression, the court said in a press release. The case pertained to an Austrian woman – referred to as “Mrs. S.” in court documents – who held two seminars in 2009 on the subject of Islam, in which she accused Muhammad of pedophilia. She was fined 480 Euros, roughly $545, for “disparaging religious doctrines,” the Express Tribune reported.
Easily the 2015 Charlie Hebdo massacre comes to mind, where a dozen people lost their lives for satrical depictions of the Prophet Mohammed.
Let us forget about all the hand holding and 'We are all Charlie' charts that went up then, or after any other terrorism incident. If the goal of Terrorism is to instill fear, then quite clearly the fundamentalists are the victors here.
Perhaps this is part of the reasons why citizens are rising up against the European Union as a whole, and denouncing rulings like this which quite clearly go against the will of the people.
This subtle 'NOT ok' remark may not mean much to some at the moment, but the thing with fear is that it creates a false and fragile peace, and rarely ever leads to an understanding. Am not a doomsdayer so we will just see how this all plays out with each passing generation.